Urad dal /Ulundu Murukku

Urad dal murukku is the tastiest murukku/chakkli and loved by everyone. Usually in India, they powder urad dal in machines outside and make this murukku. As we are staying abroad, and we dont have such machines here for that, I tried making it at home by pressure cooking the urad dal and mashing it . It came out well and also very delicious . Please follow the steps as given below, and you will get tasty murukku in short time !.

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes
Yields : 40-50 murukku

INGREDIENTS:

Whole Urad dal - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - 3 cup
Black sesame seeds - 3/4 teaspoon
Salt - 1 1/4 teaspoon
Water - as required
Butter - 1.5 table spoon

METHOD:

1. Dry roast urad dal for 2-3 minutes , until you get a nice aroma and they are hot to touch. Please remember not to over roast.

2. Now , add 1.5 cups of water in a pressure cooker and add this urad dal. Pressure cook for 1 whistle in high and simmer mode for 10 minutes and switch off the stove. Once the pressure settle, open the lid and mash the dal with back of a wooden ladle.

3. Now allow dal to cool down and grind them in mixer to a smooth paste. The reason for grinding after pressure cooking is,  we need to make sure there isnt any whole urad dal  in the paste. If the urad dal is not mashed well, chances are that they may burst when deep fried in oil. So after grinding, make sure that there is no whole urad dal and should be a smooth paste.

4. Now in a bowl, take rice flour,sesame seeds and salt. Mix well. Also add melted butter and mix well. Now add the urad dal paste to the rice flour. Mix well. Add water if required.  The dough should be smooth and soft. Shouldn't be too hard (Else, you will have hard time when using hands press ;)) and also shouldn't be too soft or watery .

5. Grease your hands press (murukku/chakli maker)  with oil. I used the three holed urad dal murukku jalli as shown in picture below.

6. Now put some dough in to the hand press, and press in to a round shape on the back of the frying ladle.

7. Deep fry them in oil, until they change to slight brown. Once you put the murukku in oil, you hear a "shhh" sound. Once the sound stops, it means your murukku has been cooked. You can take it our from oil.

8. Allow them to cool down.Store them in a  airtight container. It can stay for two to three weeks.

SEE ALSO:  Tape murukku, Butter murukku, Omapodi.

Sweet Maida Biscuits

Sweet maida biscuits/ shankarpali is common sweet snack made during Diwali season. A very tempting and tasty snack for kids  ! .

Preparation Time : 15 minutes
Cooking Time : 30 minutes
Serves : 5 servings

INGREDIENTS:

All purpose flour/maida - 2 cups
Sugar -1/2 cup
Ghee - 2 teaspoon
Cardamom - 3 no.s
Baking soda - a big pinch
Salt - a pinch
Water - as required
Oil - for deep frying

METHOD:

1. Take some sugar and cardamom and grind them to a fine powder( Note: When you want to grind cardamom, dont use lot of sugar. Grind in less sugar, so that cardamom gets powdered well). Now grind the remaining sugar also to a fine powder.

2. In a bowl, take all purpose flour, salt,baking soda,powdered sugar and  ghee.

3. Mix them well. Now add water little by little and make a smooth dough. Remember that, as we have added sugar, it requires very less water to form the dough. So add water little by little. The dough should not be too soft or too hard.

4. Now divide the dough to seven equal portions. Take a ball of dough and flatten it. Dont make it too thin. It should be slightly thicker than chapatti.

5. Now cut them in to square shapes.

6. Deep fry them, until they are golden brown.

7. Allow them to cool down. Store them in a air tight container.

SEE ALSO: Maida biscuits(Spicy) 

Dry Fruits and nuts Ladoo

Dry fruits and nuts ladoo- is one of the healthy ladoo , made using dry fruits, nuts powder ,honey and ghee. No artificial flavors or sugar is added .

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Yields : 17 - 18 ladoos

INGREDIENTS:

Dates -500 gms
Raisins - 1/4 cup
Almond - 1/4 cup
Cashews - 1/4 cup
Pistachios -1/4 cup
Walnut - 1/4 cup
Honey - 3 teaspoon
Ghee - 4 to 5 teaspoons
White Sesame Seeds - as required

METHOD:

1. Dry roast sesame seeds on a low- to medium flame, till you get a nice aroma and they are hot to touch.

2 . In a pan, dry roast each nuts(almonds, cashews,pista and walnut) separately in a low to medium flame for 2 to 3 minutes. Grind them to a coarse powder.

3. Take 500 gms of dates( Use sticky dates , as it will help to bind the ladoos well). Cut them to small pieces using scissors and grind them to a coarse paste.

4. In a pan, add 2 teaspoon of ghee, add raisins and fry till they slightly fluff up.

5. Take the raisins and keep it aside. Now in the same pan, add another 3 teaspoon of ghee and add the dates paste. Mix well and cook until the dates gets soft. It takes about approximately 3 to 4 minutes.

5. Now add honey to the dates paste and mix well. Also add raisins and nuts powder. Mix well.

6. Once the contents mixed well, switch off the stove. When they are warm, grease your hands with ghee, and make ladoos.

7. Roll them on roasted sesame seeds.

8. Refrigerate them. It can stay good for 3 to 4 days.

Moong Dal(Pasi Paruppu) Ladoo

As Diwali is around the corner, please try this simple and very easy to make sweet dish - Moong dal /pasi paruppu ladoo. This recipe is good for beginners who are trying to make sweets for first time.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time : 10 minutes
Yields :9-10 ladoos (gooseberry sized)

INGREDIENTS:

Moong dal /pasi paruppu - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar/naatu sakkarai - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 3 table spoon
Cardamom powder - a pinch

METHOD:

1. Dry roast moong dal for 3 to 4 minutes, until you get a nice aroma and it is hot to touch. Do not over roast moong dal and the colour of moong dal shouldn't change.

2. Allow them to cool down. Grind to a smooth powder.

3. Take the grinded moong dal powder in a bowl. To that, add 1/2 cup of brown sugar and mix well. Also add cardamom powder.

4. Now take 3 tablespoon of ghee in a bowl. Microwave it for 3 to 4 seconds, until they get melted well and hot. Now add them little by little to the moong dal and brown sugar mixture and mix well. When you take some flour , you must be able to hold it together. That is the consistency. When you keep adding ghee, the flour slowly thickens and when you try to make shapes, it comes out well. Now apply some ghee on your hand, take a handful of the dough and roll it with one hand to get a round shape.

5. Moong dal ladoo is ready. When you refrigerate it, it can stay good for 5 to 6 days.

Note:

1. Instead of brown sugar, you can also use regular white sugar .

2. If you are making more than 1/2 cup, do not pour all the ghee to the flour. Add warm ghee to a portion of the flour and make balls from it. Repeat the same process for the rest of the flour.

3. CLICK HERE FOR  MY OTHER SWEET RECIPES 

Cheese Pasta

This is an easy kids friendly lunchbox recipe. My son loves a lot. In this recipe, pasta mixed with home made tomato sauce and  mozzarella cheese. A very tasty recipe and can be made in a short time.

Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves : 1

INGREDIENTS:

Macaroni pasta - 1 cup
Tomato - 1
Garlic - 2 or 3 cloves
Italian seasoning - 1/2 teaspoon
Dry basil leaves - 1/2 teaspoon
Pepper powder -1/2 teaspoon
Red chilli powder (Optional) - 1/2 teaspoon
Shredded mozzarella cheese - 3 tablespoon
Salt - As required
Butter - 2 tablespoon

METHOD:

1.  See the label of macaroni pasta packet for the time of cooking. It usually takes about 11 to 12 minutes to get cooked. In a pot of water, add some salt and allow it to boil. Then add pasta, and cook until they are soft. Filter the water and wash immediately in cold water, so that the pasta dont stick to each other.

2. Grind tomato and garlic in to a smooth paste without adding any water. Now, in a pan , add some butter. Once it melts, add tomato garlic paste. Fry , till the raw smell is gone . Now add the cooked pasta.

3. Add required salt, pepper powder and red chilli powder. Mix well.

4. Also add the Italian seasoning and dry basil leaves.  Also add the shredded mozzarella cheese.

5. Switch off the stove and mix gently. Cheese pasta is ready !.

SEE ALSO: Pasta in creamy veg sauce, Pasta in milk and veggies

Buckwheat or Soba Veg Noodles

"Soba" is a Japanese word for "Buckwheat" and it refers to the thin noodles made from buckwheat flour. Buckwheat has amazing health benefits. Buckwheat noodles are fat and cholesterol free and excellent source of manganese , lean protein, carbohydrate and thiamine. Buckwheat noodles are free of gluten , supports cardiovascular health and controls blood sugar level. Many nutrition specialist suggest that, if you are on a process of reducing weight, buckwheat noodles are considered as good alternative to our traditional vermicelli, or rice noodles. If you want to make an upma, instead of vermicelli try these buckwheat. My below recipe, is a simple semiya upma. But instead of vermicelli, I used buckwheat noodles. Please try and leave your comments.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2

INGREDIENTS:

Buckwheat/soba noodles  - 200 gms
Chopped veggies - 1 cup
Onion - 1/2 cup chopped fine
Ginger - 1/2 inch sized chopped finely
Dry red chilli - 2
Red chilli powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala - 1/2 teaspoon
Salt -as required
Asafoetida powder - as required

SEASONING:

Oil - 2 tablespoon
Mustard - 1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dal - 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. Cooking of soba noodles is very important. Unlike other noodles, soba noodles are very thin and little overcooking leads to  all strands stick together. So the cooking time, need to be exact. Read the label of the noodles  pack for exact timing of the cooking.

2. Take 200 gms of soba noodles and break them to pieces. They come in long strands. As we are making upma, it is better to break them to small strands.

3. In a vessel, boil sufficient water. There should be generous amount of water for the noodles to cook well. Sprinkle some salt in the water, so that the water gets boiled quickly.

4. Now add the soba noodles into the boiling water and check the time. In exactly 5 minutes, the noodles get cooked well. Drain the water and immediately  wash the noodles in running cold water and drain it. This prevents the noodle strands from getting stick to each other .

 5. Now in a separate pan, add some oil. Add mustard, cumin and urad dal. Then add few dry red chilies. Now add chopped onion and ginger. Fry till onions get translucent.

6. Now add chopped vegetables. Also add required salt, red chilli powder and garam masala powder. Sprinkle some water and cook till they turn soft.

7. Now turn off the stove. Add the cooked soba noodles to the veggies and mix gently without mashing the noodles. Sprinkle some asafoetida powder and serve with any side dish of your choice.

Cheese Chapati

This is a good recipe for kids lunch box. Cheese and veg stuffed chapati/rotti.

Preparation Time : 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Yields : 6 to 7 no.s of rotti

INGREDIENTS:

Wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt - as required
Carrot - 1/4 cup grated
Capsicum - 1/4 cup chopped finely
Shredded mozzarella cheese - 1/4 cup
Red chilli powder- a pinch
Garam masala - 1/4 teaspoon
Oil  - 1 teaspoon

METHOD:

1. In a bowl, take carrot, capsicum and shredded cheese. Also add required salt, red chilli powder , garam masala and a teaspoon of oil . Mix the contents well.

2. Mix wheat flour with salt  and some oil. Add water and make dough. Now take lemon sized dough and flatten it well. Taken any vessel with sharp edges and use it to cut the dough in to a flat round shape as shown below.

3.  Now place the carrot,capsicum and cheese filling above it.

4. Now apply some water on the round edges. Now place another rotti above this and gently press the edges , so that it get sealed properly.

5. Now cook the rotti on tawa on both sides by applying oil. You should get brown spots on both sides .

6. Serve with your favorite kurma !

SEE ALSO: Veg Kurma , Aloo matar(gravy), Brinjal kadhi .